The T5 Q&a Thread

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I'm afraid I can't tell you what you can and can't keep with that setup as I just have LPS and softies, but I have a similar size tank and I've been very happy with that exact setup so far. I had to move my mushrooms and leather a little lower in the tank, but my pagoda, hammer and candy cane have been doing amazing! As a matter of fact, the pagoda has been looking a lot better in my tank than it did in the SPS tank at the LFS under metal halide and about the same water depth (I'm not sure what wattage MH he uses, though).
 
Thank you, Justin. :)

I'm toying still with just blue + and aquablues and forgetting about the 6500. In which case I'd probably want just two blue+ and have the others aquablues. A blue+ in front and in the back.

I'm wondering, too, how my kenya tree and my clove polyp will do in their current positions high up in the tank. They're doing so great now and especially the clove has grown over onto the next rock. I've never had to move a coral that's attached before so I'm a little wary of that. Though it grows like a weed and is spreading in different places in the tank so it could use some pruning anyway. My mushrooms are already down pretty low and they've slipped themselves under ledges and I've got a Platygyra Brain down on the sand which I'm assuming will do fine.

Incidentally, here's my tank now:
91538tank1.jpg


It's just so - purple.

Any advice on the corals I've got up higher?

Then I'm so excited that I'll be able to keep SPS and a clam. Yay!

Debbie
 
Youll find with some of your softies up high that they will slightly retract as they wont need to extend to get light as much.Theyre colors may slightly darken as well or innitially lighten then darken through time depending on the coral. Those softies that your referring to will probably be more happy in the lower middle half of your tank though.Me personally I have my cloves and kenya on the sand,and they couldnt be growing any faster;)

Also get prepared for some of that purple coraline to get bleached. The purple up high may bleach to a yellowy tinge, some of my deep red coraline went to a tie dyed effect of green. Good advice is to get the window screen material (3 sheets) and peel a layer every week. This will greatly reduce any bleaching or stress to your animals.Hope that helps.Beautifull tank btw Debbie:)

-Justin
 
Heres a fairly recent pic of mine, most everything is moved into a spot where it appears to be happiest in regards to light.And this is only 5 bulbs. Im gonna put the 6th back in when I move all my softies into my 30g Ive recently started up.

1424.jpg


-Justin
 
Great, thank you, Justin.

I'll definitely get the window screen. But I wouldn't mind a little variation in all that purple - a little tie dye effect... :cool:

I'm not so concerned about moving the clove - it's moving the kenya that worries me. I think the stalk is still just attached to the base it had when I got it as a frag and not so much the rock, but I'll have to see. Maybe I'll see how it does before I try moving it.

Thanks! :)

Debbie
 
Hi,I was wondering if two 36" Tek fixtures side by side over a 72"AGA(180g) tank would work?Are there any better options out there for lighting this size tank with T5's?Would a Retrofit set-up of T5's be better??? Thank-you.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6948578#post6948578 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jipps
Anyone have any opinions on the mounting bracket for the TEK lights? What's your recommended bulb setup?
Click to expand...

I am sure this has been answered 100 times throughout this thread. Read it, you just might learn something :P
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6966948#post6966948 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jwccwj
Hi,I was wondering if two 36" Tek fixtures side by side over a 72"AGA(180g) tank would work?Are there any better options out there for lighting this size tank with T5's?Would a Retrofit set-up of T5's be better??? Thank-you.
Click to expand...

It would work, but would be very expensive to do so. A much more economical way of doing it would be to buy a retro setup with 60" reflectors and stagger the bulbs. You wont get as good of coverage on the ends, but its about the best you can do w/out spending twice as much. Remember that the 60" bulbs are not much more expensive than a 36" bulb. You will have to buy twice as many relfectors/ballasts and replace twice as many bulbs otherwise. T5s become very impractical once you start cramming 2 sets of bulbs the value added by the T5 goes away IMO.
 
Jipps,
I have the leg stand on a 48" fixture and like them as long as they are in the lowest position. Raising them, although no need to do so) makes the fixture a little unstable IMO.

I haven't found anything yet that didn't do well under my lights, with proper photoacclimation and placement. I've had my T5s on a 90 gal for about 14 months now and have a Derasa clam on the bottom (30 inches from the light). The clam is growing very well and my acros, montis, stylos, etc are all doing well too. If you want more SPS and clams, I would go with the 6x39 fixture. Not only would it be enough light, it would give you more bulb combinations.

Eighteen inches isn't alot of depth, so make sure you photoacclimate you critters over 3 weeks or so when you change.

BTW I also have mushrooms etc that others say can't go under T5's. Again it is all in placement and photoadaptive response of the animals.

Hope that helps,
Steve
 
what bulbs do you have on that 90g bigeasy?

i ask because i am buying a 90g RR soon. and i know the t5ho bulbs selection i have on my 35g is too extreme for my favorite lps, the euphyllia

i am thinking maybe 5x54 for the 90g... or, depending on price , just 2 t5s for supplemental and 2 mh (150 DE 175 se or 250de or SE whatever is cheaper at the time)
 
Funny you should ask. Between the last post and this one, my friendly UPS man just delivered bulbs from ReefGeek. I will be changing my bulb selection by 1 bulb with this changout.

I have tried 3 variations so far, but I am currently running:
Front
Actinic +
Aquablue
Aquablue
GE Sun
Ge Sun
Actinic +
Back

I have changed out 1 of the suns and 1 Aquablue in the past for a Blue +. Have also used 1 more Aquablue in place of a sun. Have also put them in different orders to attain different appearances. The above arrangement gives a white look to the water with a slightly warmer look over the corals on top. I will say it has yielded much faster growth and a balance of colors in the corals. Most people don't like the yellow color, which is one of the 2 reasons I put them together in the back.

I think I am going to go back to a 1 Sun, 2 actinic + and 3 Aquablue set up for a while and refresh my opinions. I did however order an extra GE Sun just in case I choose to stay with 2 of them.;) Ya gotta love the versatility of T5's

One a side note, I run 1 Blue +, 2 Aquablue and 1 GE Sun over my frag tank. I will often have acro's begin to grow tisue over the epoxy or rock within days of fragmentation.
 
OK, I skimmed through all of the posts and I didn't see anything that was close enough to my situation to answer my quesiton. I hope you can help me.

I am looking at the 4x54 IceCap setup of reefgeek-
http://reefgeek.com/products/categories/lighting/104434.html

I have a 90g (48x18x24) that is a mixed reef. I want to get a clam or two.

2 questions-
1)Is the overdriven 4x54w going to be enough light?
2)Will the coloring be ok? I saw that grim said the overdriven blue+ looks almost white.

I was thinking of a combo of 2 blue+ and 2 aquablue.

Or would one of the Tek retro's be better? I would think that the 4x54w Tek wouldn't be enough, but what about the 6x? I don't like the cost difference, so I'd much rather go with the 4x setup, but I just want to make sure this is enough and the color will be ok.

I have a 4x65w CSL PC fixture over the tank now (took it off of my 50g when I upgraded a month ago), and I'm actually getting some growth off of my 2 SPS that I have in there mid level in the tank.
 
Joeyf,
You are correct that the overdriven blue bulbs look a little whiter. 4 overdriven bulbs would be enough for most softs, LPS and a variety of SPS (high light ones near the top).

I personnally would go with a 6 bulb set up so you have the ability to combine more bulbs. I am a fan of having at least 1 Sun/day bulb in there to give the day spectrum. It aids tremendously in growth. HOWEVER many have, including me, seen good growth with all aquablue and Blue + bulbs.

If you are looking to have mostly softs, LPs some SPS and clams, you should also consider normal driven 6 x 54w. I have Tek 6 x 54 over a 90 and you can see my post a few up. I have acro's, mille, stylo, seriotopora, etc.

With that said you may want to check out http://www.aqualuxlighting.com/index.html I have a retrofit on my prop tank using the workhorse ballast and Aqualux reflectors. I bought my bulbs at reefgeek. The Aqualux reflectors are ALOT higher finish then my TEK reflectors. It would save you quite a bit of money over an Icecap or Tek set up and you won't be disappointed. The aqualux reflectors tested about even with Icecaps and ahead of Tek.

Bottom line I would go with some sort of 6 bulb set up.
 
Joey, I think you will be MORE than fine with 4x54 overdriven. That is still alot of light. That is the setup that Grim used to measure PAR and it put out more PAR than his 14k halides. I dont think you will need to put SPS in the top of the tank, and I think you may even have some issues with low light softs/LPS. My 6x54 standard driven bulbs seem to be much more than is necessary and 4x54w overdriven I would imagine puts out similar numbers
 
Thanks for the input :) I really appreciate it.

I have another one for you guys though.

A friend of mine has a 50g (48x12x18h) and is looking to get T5's as well. He keeps LPS, softies, and zoos. He also wants to keep an anemone or two. What would you guys suggest? I would think 4x54w not overdriven, but it sounds like that may be too much...
 
OK, one more question...

I'm thinking I want to go with the Ice Cap 4x54w retro, since it is by far my least expensive option, but if I run 2 blue+ and 2 aquablues what do you think it will look like? A crisp white, or even a slight purple doesn't bother me, cause thats what I'm getting off of my 4x65w PC's. I suppose if I absolutely hate it, I could get a 2x54w tek retro later down the road to add to that.
 
I have a 4x T-5 system (not overdriven that I know of) on my 55g, and it's not too much for my leather or my mushrooms, which are both pretty low light corals. The withered a little bit at first, but I'm sure that's because I didn't do a really good job acclimating them to the new light with something like screens placed inbetween them and the light. Now that they're used to it, though, they look great, and I have the mushrooms midway up in my tank. My tank is deeper than your friends, but where the mushrooms and leather are currently no more than 12" below the water.

As for the proposed system for your tank, I'm currently running a similar setup with 1 daylight, 1 aquablue and 2 blue+ and it just has a slight blue tinge with the corals still flourescing pretty nicely. I've heard the Ice Caps run a little whiter, so if that's the case, I'm betting 2 aquas and 2 blues will be pretty much what you're looking for.
 
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